Cold wallaby on the run in Ontario

A panicked wallaby is on the run in southeastern Ontario after a tree blew over and destroyed its pen at the Oxford Station zoo.

Nearby residents should grab the marsupial, which looks like a miniature kangaroo, by the tail if they see it, the zoo's owner told television broadcaster CBC Friday morning.

Officials in the town just south of Ottawa are concerned the animal, named Wendell, will suffer from the cold. Wallabies are native to Australia.

Peru hopes for record with 7.5 tonne pair of jeans

Peruvian seamstresses hoping to snag a Guinness World Record for sewing the largest pair of blue jeans celebrated on Friday, one day after cranes buckled while trying to lift the giant 7.5-tonne pants.

Workers laid the pair on the ground and put big balloons inside the legs to show off the size of the jeans, which are 141 feet (43 m) tall and 98 feet (30 m) wide.

They have pockets, red buttons and a brown belt.

On Thursday, disillusioned crane operators gave up trying to lift the pants with three machines and went looking for a fourth. They wanted to lift the pants to display them. On Friday, workers had to scrap the idea of hoisting the jeans altogether.

The Colombian city of Medellin currently holds the record for the world's largest pair of jeans, which is measured by size, according to the clothing company that organized the event in San Juan de Lurigancho, a district full of textile plants east of the Peru's capital, Lima.

The Colombian pair were 114 feet (35 m) tall by 82 feet (25 m) wide. Representatives from Guinness were not present to see the Peruvian-made jeans, but a notary who can send documentation to the group was.

The company's chief executive said material from the pants will be cut to make backpacks for area school children.

Paganism takes root in prisons

The number of prisoners who describe themselves as pagan has more than doubled in England and Wales since 2003, according to new government figures.

According to prison service guidelines, pagan prisoners are permitted to keep artefacts, including a hoodless robe and a flexible twig for use as a wand, among their personal possessions. Naked worship, known as skyclad, is not allowed.

The figures showed that 328 inmates listed themselves as pagan in 2007, up from 133 four years ago. There are around 80,000 prisoners in Britain's jails.

The figures were released ahead of Hallowe'en, a festival on which pagan prisoners will be allowed to choose not to work or attend education. Inmates are allowed to select two dates from a list of eight annual festivals when they are excused from work.

Giant Lego man washed up on the beach

A giant Lego man has washed up on a beach in Brighton after floating all the way from Holland.

The 6ft tall red, yellow and green Lego man was spotted by children playing on the beach

Police fill 26 cars with wrong fuel

A police force put 26 of its cars out of action by filling up with the wrong fuel, it was reported.

Officers working for North Wales Police cost the taxpayer nearly £3,000 in the last 12 months by pumping gallons of petrol into their diesel engines, reported the Welsh Daily Post.

In 2006 the force introduced bright yellow filler cap covers marked with the word "diesel". But that did not stop officers making the same mistake 26 times.

The information was released under the Freedom of Information Act.

A force spokesman said: "To insert the fuel nozzle, the flap must be physically moved which should bring the fuel type to the drivers' attention.

"This has proven to be an effective mis-fuelling device."

Some police forces are installing state-of-the-art light-activated devices which play a recorded message to remind motorists they are driving a diesel.

The RAC said in the last decade it has recorded a 385% increase in the number of call-outs to drivers filling up with the wrong fuel.

Man lives in coffin

A man who has a fear for being buried alive has built a home- in a crypt.

The coffin has a television, a water pitcher, air vent and two makeshift placstic tubes he uses as megaphones to contact the outside world.

The crypt was built by 78-year-old man whose name happens to be Freud.

Freud de Melo suffers from a rare condition called taphephobia, the fear of being buried alive.

So why he lives in the coffin is a mystery.

"I have awful, awful nightmares of trying to dig myself out from underground," he said.

Melo's life-affirming burial chapel has become one of the most talked about features of the eccentric tourist park he operates in Brazil's central hinterlands.

And he once shouted through the megaphone cones "Help me! Come quick! I've been buried alive!"

But he said it was all in the name of testing the equipment.

Horny squirrel stops people voting

A frisky squirrel that was after another squirrel, caused havoc at a polling station when it jumped onto an electric cable and cut off the lights powering over 800 homes.

The one-and-a-half hour black-out that occurred in Florida affected a library that was being used as a voting station.

But although it slowed down the voters, they still flowed in to cast their vote for the new US president using flash lights.

The squirrel was found dead hours later.

Vicar hospitalised with potato up his bum

A vicar claims a potato got stuck up his bottom after he fell on to the vegetable while hanging curtains in the nude.

The clergyman, in his 50s, told medical staff at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital that the accident was definitely not due to a sex game.

He had to undergo surgery to extract the spud from his backside, according to The Sun.

A&E nurse Trudi Watson told the paper: "He explained to me, quite sincerely, he had been hanging curtains naked in he kitchen when he fell backwards on to the kitchen table and on to a potato.

"But it's not for me to question his story."

She went on to reveal other objects removed from people's derriére, including a cucumber, a Russian doll and a carnation.

World's most amazing face paintings

Face painting usually means tigers or lions at the fair, or national flags for football matches.
Well, meet John Kuhn, the Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso of face painting all rolled into one.

The drag queen, former nudist and born-again Christian is halfway through a project to create a design for his face every day for a year.

He has daubed his visage with everything from a giant carton of pop corn to Loony Toon Tweety Pie and even a big scary gorilla.

His face has hosted a menagerie of animals, but perhaps the most striking ­images are those of food.

One shows him wolfing down an ice-cream, while another transforms him into a pineapple.

He also makes a pretty convincing burger. Michigan-based Mr Kuhn, 46, who began his project in March, said he wants to take face painting 'to a higher level'.

He said: 'Face painting is the most exciting thing that has happened to me in a long while! I believe it may have magical ­powers!'

Sit back and have a look at his wonderful gallery of face painting art here.

Mobility scooter attacker

A man who was driving through a park almost did hit and run when he knocked over a teenage girl on his mobility scooter.

The wild man from New Zealand attacked the group of girls who were playing the open fields and purposely ran into one.

It is not known why he made his attack but the girl was treated for bruises on her arms and legs.

He is due appear in court next week.

'Beep ban' imposed on taxis

Taxis have been banned from beeping to let people know they are outside because it lowers their image.

Transport chiefs in Lancashire also want to introduce dress and behaviour codes, according to the Lancashire Evening Post.

But the idea has not gone down well with taxi drivers who described it as a "stupid" ban.

They say banning them from beeping when they arrive to pick up a customer could leave them vulnerable to violence on some of Preston's toughest estates.

They want to stay in their car for personal safety.

Mick Rooney, who runs Ribbleton Taxis, said: "The job is getting more and more dangerous. As soon as you get out of the vehicle you're at risk. I will continue sounding my horn – I'll end up in court about it."

According to the paper, Mike Thorpe, of Preston Council, said anyone breaking the rule would get written advice, followed by a written warning and then called before the taxi sub-committee.

The cowgirl on the range in wild Dorset

She can't whirl a lasso, she's never drawn a Smith & Wesson and she certainly doesn't wear spurs.

But, yee-haa, she sure can ride a horse, and that's all you need to be a cowgirl - or, at least, the modern version of one.

Lisa Hawthornthwaite, 30, yesterday became the first 'cowhand' in Britain for more than 200 years when she saddled up for a new conservation role.

In doing so, she beat off applicants for the National Trust job from as far away as the ranches of South America.

With a five-year-old Highland pony named Ossie for company, her job is to drive a herd of grazing cattle around a heathland nature reserve in Dorset to stop it becoming overgrown.

The grazing will preserve the diversity of plant life and wildlife at the site - aptly named Studland Heath - which boasts some of Britain's rarest natural habitats. But it won't be a walk in the park. She has 750 hectares (1,850 acres) to cover, regardless of the weather or time of year.

'It's a bit daunting, but hopefully we'll get this place looking like it was 200 years ago,' said Lisa. 'And with Ossie for company, it'll be great. He's cheeky, and stubborn but very loveable.'

Trust bosses created the role because an increasing number of visitors meant the cows could not roam freely as they did up until the early 20th century.

Rather than put up fences to control them, the trust decided to revive the cowherding tradition.

Lisa will bring 40 cows on to the heath in the morning, tend them by day and return them to their farm in the evening.

Reefer made boy attack car

A boy who ran into a moving car blamed his strange behaviour on marijuana.

The juvenile from Panama said he tried the drug for the first time which caused his erratic movements.

The woman driving the car that he smashed into said she was shocked when the incident occurred and thought she had ran him over.

But after he repeatedly bumped into her vehicle, she sped off to call police at a nearby gas station.

Her husband was driving behind her and apprehended the boy until the police came.

When he was questioned he said it was the first time he had tried marijuana.

He was released under the custody of his parents.

Men want blondes 'just for fun'

Blondes, it seems, are the best girlfriend material but, when it comes to a wife, men look to brunettes.

Famous blondes such as Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears and Legally Blonde star Reese Witherspoon are certainly objects of male desire - 36 per cent voted them the sexiest women in a survey out yesterday.

But 52 per cent of men said dark-haired women were best to marry, because they were more dependable and sensible. Just 18 per cent opted for blondes.

Some 49 per cent said brunettes were the most loving women, with 53 per cent feeling they could rely on them more than anyone else.

Almost 48 per cent also thought brunettes were the best cooks.

But more than half of the men said they had been on most dates with blondes.

The research revealed 33 per cent of guys had a particular hair shade they always went for.

Hairdresser Andrew Collinge, whose hair-care brand carried out the poll, said: 'I thought men were more modern than this. I'm obviously in the minority as I married a blonde.'

Call centre worker 'changed man's identity'

A bank customer who criticised a call centre worker later found his bank account frozen and his identity changed to that of a Ugandan divorcee.

happened after carpenter George Bates, 23, gave an Abbey operator a low rating in a post-call survey.

He also found his overdraft withdrawn and direct debits cancelled - landing him with £60 of charges.

'This arrogant operator obviously decided to change all my details in revenge,' said Mr Bates, of Bristol. 'I was terrified I'd never have my money back.'

Abbey cancelled the fines and apologised.

Man 'wants to marry' cartoon character

A man has launched a campaign in Japan to legally allow comic book-loving humans to marry their favourite fictitious characters.

More than 1,000 people have signed Taichi Takashita's on-line petition to establish a law permitting marriage to comic characters, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Takashita says he feels more at ease in the "two-dimensional world."

He said: "I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world.

"However, that seems impossible with present-day technology.

Therefore, at the very least, would it be possible to legally authorise marriage with a two-dimensional character?"

Comic books known as "manga", animated "anime" films and on-line virtual reality games have become increasingly popular in Japan, with fictitious characters frequently elevated to celebrity status.
Among the most high profile of manga fans is the current prime minister Taro Aso.

He recently complained he had not had time to read any comic books since taking office last month.

Takashita's petition was launched only days after a woman was jailed in Japan after "killing" her virtual husband after he suddenly divorced her as part of a popular interactive internet game.

One person who supported the petition, wrote: "For a long time I have only been able to fall in love with two-dimensional people and currently I have someone I really love.

"Even if she is fictional, it is still loving someone. I would like to have legal approval for this system at any cost."

Is pirate dog scary at all?

Mondex, a Chihuahua, wears a pirate costume during a Halloween dog show for the benefit of an animal welfare organization in Manila.

Amazingly, Mondex actually won the prize for the most creative costume.

'We did not serve poo' say hotel

A pub accused of serving ice cream contaminated with human excrement says a lab report has cleared them.

The Coogee Bay Hotel in Sydney pub has been accused of serving poo in ice cream to a family of five.

The Whyte family claim they were served a large bowl of ice cream covering what looked like "compacted chocolate".

But the pub has strongly denied the accusation and says a lab report has cleared them after it failed to find any excrement.

But the Whyte family, who say they were served the contaminated ice-cream on October 5 after they complained they could not hear a televised rugby final over the pub's loud music, say their own independent test found the dessert contained "properties similar to human excreta".

The state food authority is investigating.

Both the Whytes and the hotel staff have now offered to undergo DNA testing.

Teen forced gran to make 'gangsta' video

A Florida teenager has been sentenced to 18 months in juvenile detention for coaxing his senile grandmother into holding a gun and threatening to shoot "all the pigs" in a homemade "gangsta rap" video.
Eighteen-year-old Michael Alfinez pleaded guilty Tuesday to elder abuse charges. His family has said the case was a misunderstanding.
The 85-year-old grandmother can be seen in the video holding a handgun, wearing a black mask and threatening to shoot "all the pigs."

Alfinez was arrested in April after authorities seized the tape during a routine traffic stop.

Alfinez and others also could be seen in the video shooting a pistol around town.

Alfinez also pleaded guilty to charges of firing out of a moving vehicle and into a building.

Official website gives tips to prostitutes

A government website for Brazil's prostitutes that suggests they be prepared to perform fantasies and "offer specialties," among other tips, is going to be toned down, an official says.

Prostitution is legal in Brazil and sex worker advocacy groups say the Labour Ministry website aims to promote the human rights of prostitutes.

But critics say the site goes too far, and its contents have become fodder for Brazilian newspapers.

The site contains such tips as: "demonstrate an ability to perform erotic fantasies," "seduce with affectionate nicknames" and, in a nod to the globalized marketplace, "demonstrate a capacity to communicate in a foreign language."

"The information was created with the help of NGOs and the prostitutes themselves," said a labour ministry spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn't authorised to discuss the topic.

The spokeswoman said, however, that the language and some of the explicit tips on the site would be moderated. She said the changes would be made by the end of the year.

The site, which began in 2002, also gives prostitutes advice on how to negotiate condom use with customers and encourages them to denounce violence. It gives information on HIV.

Opponents had said the site should be changed so it doesn't appear to encourage prostitution.

"What is on the site gives the impression of an apology for sexual exploitation," law professor Luiz Flavio Gomes told the O Globo newspaper in its online edition.

Traffic cone heist puzzles police

The motive behind the theft of 100 traffic cones from a busy road is a "mystery", police said.

The "unusual" heist of the brand-new cones happened on the A303 near Crewkerne in Somerset overnight between October 23 and 24 last week, officers said.

The theft occurred sometime between 5pm and 7am, and the cones were part of a lane closure leading from the Cartgate roundabout to the Ash/Martock junction.

The batch of orange unmarked cones belongs to a private firm and is worth £700.

Walnut argument leads to arrest

A couple who were feuding over a walnut have been charged by police.

It is not know why the pair from Dayton USA were fighting over the walnut but a neighbour complained about the argument after being disturbed.

The couple were bickering about the nut in their back yard before the police intervened.

The neighbour called the cops after seeing that the chairs on his porch had been smashed during the dispute.

The couple were both charged. One with menacing and the other with criminal damage.

Drunk woman wets herself in police station

A drunken woman who was arrested for driving under alcohol influence wet herself while being questioned.

Officers became suspicious of the lady when they found her car stuck in mud.

After falling out of her vehicle she tried to pull down her pants to relieve herself but was quickly taken to the station.

However after arriving she refused the offer to use the ladies room and ended up urinating on herself.

Man accused of centipede bed attack

A Malaysian man is accused of trying to hurt his neighbour with a dangerous weapon - centipedes.

A news report says a court has charged the man with allegedly unleashing the insects in the neighbour's bed following an argument.

The Star daily reports Wednesday that R.

Prabakaran, aged 21, pleaded not guilty in the court in Johor Baru city to a charge of attempting to cause harm with a dangerous weapon by putting four centipedes and bugs in the bed of his neighbor, K. Rajama, aged 30, last Friday.

Court officials could not immediately be reached to confirm the report.

It was not clear what species the centipedes were. Some species are poisonous.

If found guilty, Prabakaran faces up to three years prison and a caning.

Fancy a little bite to eat?

Two artists have carved success out of making as little as possible - fashioning pinhead-sized grapes and a kitchen knife you could pick your teeth with.

Charlotte and Martin Willmott spend their days creating tiny pine-apples, complete with 35 individual leaves, or tackling their latest bugbear - string onions.

'It's getting that texture right, with the very faint stripe they've got in them and the roots,' said 54-year-old Mrs Willmott.

The pair, who have no formal sculpture training, craft their work from polymer clay, which is then fired in their domestic oven before being hand painted. Their farmhouse table laden with produce goes for £85 and a mini Atlantic salmon for £45.

The couple, from Ipswich, caught the bug 30 years ago after reading about a man who made 1/12 scale chairs.

'They were just perfect. We were fascinated,' added former insurance specialist Mrs Willmott.

Husband Martin, 63, finally plucked up the courage to leave his job as an art teacher in 1991. They now sell their creations to collectors at miniature fairs across the country.

Amazon accidentally calls Obama a terrorist

Oooops. Amazon.com look like they'll have a little explaining to do - namely, explaining why when you searched for the phrase "terrorist costume", the only result returned was a mask of Barack Obama...

Amazon have now managed to remove the mask from those searches - unfortunately, not before the internet noticed, went crazy and swore never to shop at their horrible racist site ever again.

Of course, it's probably not poor little Amazon's fault, beyond the fact that they let their users ad helpful tags to the products, which then help other people search for them. Some naughty people have clearly decided to tag the Obama mask with 'terrorist' (even though that was last week's talking point - don't they know that this week he's a SOCIALIST who'll make ALL YOUR CHILDREN GAY?)

Either way, it's now unleashed a tag war between the Democrat and Republican factions: at the time of writing, the John McCain mask was tagged with the words 'evil', 'loser', 'war monger' and 'erectile dysfucntion'.

Yep, this is what political discourse has come to in 2008 - tagging masks of your opponent to say their penis doesn't work*. Amazon community moderation team: we feel your pain. Only eight more days of this madness to go.

Via qwghlm via damienmulley

*OK, we'll admit that's actually pretty funny. We do like presidential penis wars, after all.

Sausage smuggler rumbled

A woman tried was rumbled trying to smuggle spicy sausage across the US/Mexico border in babies' nappies.

Customs inspectors became suspicious when the 21-year-old woman from South Texas declared the nappies "soiled", local media reported.

Suspicious of the chunky nappies, inspectors with US Customs and Border Protection at the international bridge in Hidalgo found several links of spicy pork sausage, or chorizo, inside.

The nappies had been folded to look soiled, according to a customs agency statement.

The woman was fined $300 and her chorizo was seized.

Boffins: 'There could be life on Mr Spock's planet'

Mr Spock's fabled home star could harbour an Earth-like planet, boffins claim.

Epsilon Eridani was borrowed by the creators of Star Trek as the location of Vulcan, Mr Spock's home.

But now NASA astronomers say Epsilon Eridani resembles a younger twin to our solar system.
The star is about 62 trillion miles away from Earth but it is the closest known solar system.

The boffins report that the triple-ringed star has an asteroid belt and a Jupiter-like giant planet in roughly the same orbits as in our own solar system.

It is a fifth the age of Earth's sun, at 850 million years old.

"We certainly haven't seen it yet, but if its solar system is anything like ours, then there should be planets like ours," say astronomer Massimo Marengo of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US.

Driver: 'I was blinded by mobile phone'

A teenager who sped away from police at more than 100mph said she was having trouble seeing while talking on her mobile phone.

Kimberly Messer, 18, from Springfield, Oregon in the US, was clocked doing 107mph, Oregon media reported.

State trooper Ryan Hockema said she told him she had trouble seeing while talking on her mobile phone before stopping for the officer.

According to the police report, the officer had tried to stop a red 1995 Ford Mustang he spotted going 87mph near a construction site.

The car then accelerated to speeds as high as 107mph in the work zone while failing to maintain the travel lane, following other vehicles too closely and making unsafe lane changes.

Messer was arrested on charges of reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person and has been jailed.

Revealed: The world's longest dreadlocks

Asha Mandela lets down her record-breaking hair after getting her dreadlocks measured at 2.6m (8ft 9in).

The 1.6m (5ft 5in) American from Miami, 46, has been growing her hair for 20 years.

Man pleads guilty in frozen chicken attacks

A man accused of attacking a woman with a frozen chicken has pleaded guilty to assault.

Frederick McKaney, 40, was accused of stabbing his mother with a fork and attacking a second woman with 10lbs of frozen chicken.

He has pleaded guilty to one count of felonious assault.

McKaney, from Jackson, Michigan in the US, had additional assault, larceny and other charges against him dropped.

Prosecutors said McKaney stabbed his mother with a fork June 23 and later exchanged words with another woman as he rode a stolen bicycle.

They said he hit her in the head with a plastic bag of frozen chicken, opening a wound that required five surgical staples to close.

McKaney will be sentenced Dec. 11. He faces up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

Prosthetic ear found under rollercoaster

A prosthetic ear and leg have been found during a clear-up at a theme park's rollercoaster ride.

The unexpected finds were found in and around Alton Towers' Corkscrew ride.

Russell Barnes, from the theme park, said: "As the Corkscrew is the oldest rollercoaster in the Park, we were expecting to find some strange items when we started clearing the Corkscrew area but a prosthetic leg definitely tops the list as the most bizarre.

"If anyone has any information on the missing leg, we would be keen to hear from them."

The theme park said usual lost property was car keys, money and mobile phones.

The 28 year-old Corkscrew rollercoaster is being closed and will run for the final time on November 9 when the park will be hosting a special day for members of the public who would like to ride the coaster one last time.

Man gets arm stuck in train toilet

A passenger on a French train had to be rescued after having his arm sucked down the on-board toilet.

The 26-year-old Frenchman became trapped while trying to fish his mobile phone out of the toilet on a high-speed train, passengers said.

They said he fell foul of the toilet's the powerful suction system which drains the loos on board, the rail network's regional office said.

Firefighters had to cut through the U-bend to free him.

The high-speed TGV train had to stop for two hours while firemen cut through the train's pipework.

The man was carried away by emergency services, with the toilet still attached to his arm.

"He came out on a stretcher, with his hand still jammed in the toilet bowl, which they had to saw clean off," said Benoit Gigou, a witness to the man's plight.

The incident happened on Sunday evening, aboard a train travelling in western France between La Rochelle and Paris.

Cyclist takes the long way home

One cyclist really has done his bit for the planet - pedalling 48,000km (30,000 miles) home to Britain from Japan.

Peter Gostelow is taking a well-earned rest after a three-year stint in the saddle that took him through 30 countries, including Iran and Afghanistan.

Despite wobbling through war zones and treacherous terrain, the worst challenges he faced were sunburn, food poisoning and just 20 tyre punctures.

'I was surprised how safe I felt in Pakistan and Iran,' said the 29-year-old.

Even when his bike was stolen in Nepal and sold for £10 he soon recovered it with the help of locals. The cyclist thought up the idea after finishing his job teaching English in Japan.
'I've travelled before but it has always been by plane. I felt like I was in a capsule and wasn't experiencing the world properly,' he said.

But his welcome home after the £6,000 trip was slightly delayed. Arriving in Dover, he cycled to Dorset to see his mother - only to find she had moved to Surrey.

Hero dog risks life to save kittens

A dog was hailed as a hero after it risked its life to save a litter of newborn kittens from a house fire, rescuers said.

In a case which gives the lie to the saying about 'fighting like cats and dogs', the terrier cross named Leo had to be revived with oxygen and heart massage after his ordeal.

Fire broke out overnight at the house in Australia's southern city of Melbourne, where he was guarding the kittens.

Fire fighters who revived Leo said he refused to leave the building and was found by them alongside the litter of kittens, despite thick smoke.

"Leo wouldn't leave the kittens and it nearly cost him his life," fire service Commander Ken Brown told reporters.

The four kittens also survived the fire and on Sunday Leo, who fire fighters nicknamed 'Smoky', was again back at the house.

Modern day Guy Fawkes- Except this one is naked

Its only a week to wait till bonfire night, but an eager man took fireworks display to a new level in Australia yesterday.
The half naked man was caught running down the street in the town centre of Mt Isa with firecrackers jumping out of his head and exploding in the air.

The 22-year-old prankster had nothing on but some shorts and a helmet with the firecrackers attached to it and as he flew down the street the crackers did the same.

He was apprehended by police and will appear in court.

But although no accidents were caused policeman Hopkins said the act was dangerous.

"He was running close to one of our main roads, where the big road trains travel," Supt Hopkins said.

"It could have been quite tragic."

Palin wig is a must-have

A Sarah Palin wig has become one of a New York company's most popular items.
Georgie Wigs vice-president Shlomo Klein said they had sold about 50 Palin wigs since the Alaska governor joined John McCain on the Republican ticket.

"It's a very conservative yet fashion-forward look," he said.

"It can be worn down, it can be worn up. There are a lot of styling options. The bun higher, the bun lower."

Car scratching yob was an OAP

A vandal who keyed a classic car causing £1,000 of damage has been unmasked as a 76-year-old.

'Everyone blames youths for crime but it's not always true,' said Roy Bearman, owner of the Triumph Dolomite Sprint.

The male pensioner was cautioned for the attack on the car in Hunstanton, Norfolk.

'Leopard man' recluse moves to proper home

A man whose body is covered in leopard spot tattoos has moved from a ruined cabin on a Scots island to a proper home.

Tom Leppard - the so-called Leopard Man of Skye and, until recently, the world's most tattooed man - now lives in a house using electricity and sleeps in a bed for the first time in years.

The 73-year-old said of his former existence: 'I'm getting too old for that life.'

Woman gives birth to triplet granddaughters

A woman became a grandmother when she gave birth to her grandchildren.

The 56-year-old gave birth to triplets by having IVF, and embryos implanted into her uterus.

Jaci Dalenberg, 56, from Ohio USA, carried the two identical twins and their sister as a surrogate mother for her daughter Kim Coseno and her husband.

The twins and their sister were two-months premature and all four are said to be doing fine.

Jaci is said to have offered her service after her daughter was waiting to adopt with her husband.

Lightning bolt kills 52 cows

A single lightning bolt killed 52 cows at an Uruguayan ranch.
Newspaper El Pais reported the cows had pressed against a wire fence during a storm when the lightning bolt struck in the northern state of San Jose.

A photograph released by the San Jose Police Department shows the black and brown cows lying dead in a long row.

The newspaper said that veterinarians at the scene confirmed the cause of the deaths, which happened on Wednesday.

The veterinarians told the newspaper that cows often crowd around fences to seek protection during storms.

Meteorologist Fernando Torena told the newspaper he wasn't surprised that a single lightning bolt killed so many cows. But he called it "very bad luck".

Burglars rob unlocked police station

Two drunken burglars stole police equipment after discovering the door of a rural police station had been left unlocked, it was revealed today.

Shane Bowkett, 22, and Matthew Goodchild, 21, turned up at the station in Newent, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, at 4am on August 23.

They had been drinking at a nearby pub and had gone to the police station because they thought Goodchild's brother had been arrested and was being held there.

They pressed the buzzer, but after getting no answer found the door was open and all the lights on, so went inside.

When they realised the station was unmanned, they stole two stab vests, two high-visibility jackets, two police caps and the key to a patrol car.

Bowkett, of Coleford, and Goodchild, from Newent, both admitted burglary on October 14 and were each given a 12 month conditional discharge by Gloucester magistrates and ordered to pay £30 each.

The stolen equipment was recovered by police.

Police have also apologised to widow Chris Harrison, 59, for mistakenly smashing in her front door when they were searching for the culprits.

Mrs Harrison, who runs an equestrian equipment shop, has made an official complaint and compensation claim.

Gloucestershire police said there was a fault with the door to the police station which meant that it could not be locked properly.

Security had been stepped up since the incident.

A spokesman said: "It is important that police stations throughout the county are accessible by members of the public and that during periods when the station is not manned, they can locate the help points which put them in direct contact with the contact centre.

"On this occasion the station had been left insecure due to a fault with the door and the offenders gained access into the building.

"We have now reviewed the security of this station and will be making sure that an incident like this doesn't happen again."

Half-ton man's big fat Mexican wedding

The world's heaviest man has tied the knot. Manuel Uribe, who hasn't left his bed in six years, married his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis Sunday in northern Mexico.
Wearing a white silk shirt with a sheet wrapped around his legs, Uribe smiled as Solis, 38, walked down a flight of stairs wearing a strapless ivory dress, a tiara and hot-pink lipstick.

He later broke into tears as a notary declared the couple husband and wife in a civil ceremony attended by more than 400 guests.

For the traditional first dance as newlyweds, Uribe and Solis held hands and swayed to a romantic ballad.

A popular local norteno band played accordion-heavy tunes at the reception, which featured a banquet of meat and buttered vegetables.

Uribe's mother, Orquedia Garza, said the groom steered clear of the five-tier wedding cake.

"He didn't break his diet," she said. "His doctors are here and they are watching him very closely."

The wedding, which was closed to most media, will be featured in an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary on Uribe, the 43-year-old former mechanic said.

"I have a wife and will form a new family and live a happy life," Uribe told hordes of reporters earlier as they followed him through the streets of Monterrey.

A flatbed truck was brought in to tow his custom-made bed decorated with a canopy, flowers and gold-trimmed bows to the wedding at a local event hall. Two police patrol cars escorted him ahead of a long line of traffic.

Uribe tipped the scales in 2006 at 1,230lbs (560kg), earning him the Guinness World Record as the world's heaviest man.

He has since shed about 550 pounds (250 kilograms) with the help of Solis, whom he met four years ago.

Uribe said he's gunning for a new title: world's greatest weight loser.

Palin as President: your interactive web glimpse of a nightmare future

As the polls in America continue to suggest that absolutely nobody in the country likes John McCain and they're all crazy drunk on hope-juice, the prospect of comedy trainwreck Sarah Palin being a heartbeat away from the nuclear codes seems to be receding somewhat. But let's get in a few more cheap gags at her expense while we can, OK?

Palin as President is a lovely little website with a fun approach to mickey-taking that we can't remember seeing before - the interactive Flash satire. You're shown President Hockeymom kicking back in the Oval Office, and you get to click on the various objects in the room to reveal hidden jokes, or prompt phrases from Palin ('Maverick!' ). The site's creators say they'll be adding new gags to it every day until the election, which promises plenty of fun trying to spot the fresh jokes.
Our favourite bit is the dinosaur that occasionally walks past the window outside. (Palin is apparently of the belief that humans and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time. Which is totally unfair, John McCain's not that old.) On that theme, here's a lovely picture of Palin riding a dinosaur by artist Zina Saunders, whose paintings of the election are all wonderful.

Woman jailed for virtual murder

A woman has been non-virtually jailed after virtually killing her virtual husband in an online role-playing game.

The 43-year-old became so angry about her sudden divorce from her online husband that she logged on with his password and killed his digital persona, police said.

The woman, who has been jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his ID and password to log onto Maple Story, a popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), to carry out the virtual murder in May, a police official in the northern city of Sapporo said on Thursday.

'I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry,' the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.

The woman, a piano teacher, had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.

She has not yet been formally charged. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison or a fine up to US$5,000.

Players in Maple Story create avatars for themselves, while engaging the usual MMORPG pastimes of fighting monsters in dungeons, going on quests, and forming relationships with other players.

The woman killed her ex-husabnd's avatar using login information she had obtained from the 33-year-old office worker during happier times. The man complained to police when he discovered that he was dead.

The woman was arrested Wednesday and taken 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives, the official said.

The police official said he did not know if she was married in the real world.

Bad online behavior is usually handled within the rules set up by online worlds, which can ban miscreants or take away their virtual possessions.

In recent years, misbehavior in the virtual world has in some cases had consequences in reality.

In August, a woman was charged in the U.S. state of Delaware with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through virtual world Second Life.

In Tokyo, a 16-year-old boy was charged with stealing the ID and password from a fellow player of an online game in order to swindle virtual currency worth US$360,000.